Willie Fritz Previews Houston Cougars 2025 Season, Week 1 Tilt vs. Stephen F. Austin
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The Houston Cougars are entering their second year under head coach Willie Fritz, and many believe his squad will improve from the 4-8 record they achieved last season.
The veteran coach addressed the media for the first time for the 2025 season on Monday afternoon and had high hopes for this year.
Overall Team Depth and Transfer Portal Additions
Fritz praised his team's overall depth throughout the press conference, mentioning that it was a key strength of this year's team.
“We have legitimate competition…at a lot of different positions,” Fritz said. We didn’t have that at a lot of spots last season, and I am excited about that.”
Another thing Houston did well in the offseason was utilizing the transfer portal to help build up the roster.
“It’s a way to get your roster better,” Fritz said. “You look at it, you see where maybe you had some weaknesses…it can really help you if you do it the right way.”
He also mentioned that the rotation will “sort itself out in the first two or three games."
Offensive Line
A significant need for Fritz and staff was experienced guys on the offensive line. The Cougars did just that by landing five offensive linemen in the portal, who include: Jason Brooks Jr. from Oklahoma State, Matthew Wykoff from California, Dalton Merryman from Texas Tech, McKenzie Agnello from New Mexico and Alvin Ebosele from Baylor.
“We needed some guys,” Fritz said. “We felt last year that it wasn’t a position of strength for us and we needed to get better on the offensive line.”
David Ndukwe and Demetrius Hunter are the two more experienced players from the offensive line last season, along with Larry Crawford, who was also part of the team.
Wide Receivers
Houston added two transfer receivers in Amare Thomas from UAB and Harvey Broussard from Louisiana to an already talented wide receiving core.
“We got Stephon Johnson, who has played a ton of football at the University of Houston. Mekhi Mews played a bunch for us last season. Koby Young, I am excited about him. He got hurt after week two of last season, and I think he is going to have an outstanding year, but both Amare and Harvey are going to add to that room,” Fritz said.
Running Backs
Arguably, the most depth on the team is in the running back room. The Cougars return two top contributors in rushing yards in Re’Shaun Sanford II and Stacy Sneed.
Houston also landed Rice transfer Dean Connors, who added depth to the room.
“What I hope is that one guy becomes the bell cow. Somebody becomes that guy who can carry the ball 15-20 times a game. That is what we want to see,” Fritz said.
Defensive Backs
Fritz also touched on defensive back transfers Will James and Jordan Allen and their performance since they’ve arrived on campus.
“I’ve been very impressed with them,” Fritz said. “We added some really good guys on the back end, and we needed to. We didn’t do a great job of adding freshmen last year in the secondary, so we had to go out and get some guys.”
Team Health and Big 12 Availability Report
Fritz also addressed the team's health going into the 2025 season.
“Pretty good,” Fritz said. “We got a couple guys that are banged up a little bit who may not be able to play week one.”
Beginning this season, Big 12 teams are required to submit daily health reports, starting three days prior to game day, and post them by 9:00 p.m. each day.
Football athletes must be designated as available, probable, questionable, doubtful or out.
“We staff meet at four o’clock and Andrew Crane, our athletic trainer, will tell us who can go and who can’t go, where they are at, and how we list them,” Fritz said.
Team Chemistry
A major focus of Houston's coaching staff this offseason was to continue building a culture and fostering close relationships among the players going into this season.
“I think they really get along well. We had more time to try and vet these guys,” Fitz said. “When I first got here, I didn’t have time to vet much. I got here a little later than some of the other coaches did… I think we did a really good job getting a good group of people.”
Fritz made his game plan clear in terms of keeping guys together once they get on campus. Recruit, retain, develop.
Week One Matchup: SFA
“They are a very talented group,” Fritz said. “We've got to do a good job of coming out of the blocks fast and expecting early. That is always important in any game, but particularly in week one.”
The SFA Lumberjacks are projected to finish second in the Southland Conference, according to the SLC grid poll, and many experts believe in the direction head coach Colby Carthel is taking the program.
The Cougars open up their season against SFA on Thursday, August 28, at 7:00 p.m. at TDECU Stadium.
“We have very high expectations, and it starts with this first game,” Fritz said. “Season goals are great, but our number one goal is to be successful on Thursday night.”
Ashton Grissom is a staff writer for Houston Cougars on SI. He is currently a senior at the University of Houston and majoring in Sports Media Production with a minor in Marketing and Spanish. He also works for two student organizations: The Cougar and CoogTV. You can find Grissom on his Instagram (@ashtonagrissom8) or Twitter (@ashtongrissom8).